Cheap vs expensive compass 

The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten

It's called a wilderness compass for a reason... that's where you end up.

A friend of mine always says that if you 'buy cheap, you buy twice, once to buy the item and then again to replace it with something that works correctly'

As I've always had a reliable compass, if I do buy a new one, I test the accuracy against my 'master' compass before going out with it. My favorite is my dad's prismatic army compass he used in WW2, but it was originally issued in 1917 - !

It's better economy to pay more for better quality and the Bash-O-Matic proves that.

It beggars belief how a magnetised needle can point anywhere other than magnetic north. One of mine somehow got reversed, and was 180 degrees out until I stroked it with a magnet. But to have an approximately 10 degree error is probably too much friction for the weakly magnetised needle. Ive got a stainless steel cased pocket watch style compass that Ive had for 50yrs that reads about 5 degrees out, but I’m putting that down to either the case being not totally non magnetic stainless steel, or perhaps steel in the hinge. I didn’t realise I was a compass enthusiast or collector until I stumbled upon this channel haha.

The Bash-o-meter! It doesn't slice, it doesn't dice, but it bashes cheap compasses to bits! Precisely calibrated with a Rock Density Calculator! Get yours now! :) BTW, in the USA, a garden is typically one of two types: for growing vegetables, or ornamental. I always have to remember when listening to someone from the UK that they mean yard. It's like pants. Here it means trousers, there it means underwear. I do like the UK spelling of colour and humour which spellcheck here does not like! My theory of buying gear is like buying my woodworking tools. Buy once, cry once. Get the very best you can afford and you usually only have to buy them once. Barring stuff that does wear out. Love your channel!

Love your videos. This got me thinking if you could do a video to see if it's possible to navigate with a smartphone gps compass app comparing the results to a 'proper' compass?

Great job, really looks cool

Great video. I have a Silva Expedition compass and two cheap ones that cost about £6 each, they're both accurate but i wouldn't trust them if they were dropped or knocked. It really does pay to get the best you can afford, finding your way when the trail gets confusing is priceless.

I love the Bash-O-Matic, but I am NOT putting my Brunton in that bag lol

Interesting that at 10.53 the 2 more expensive compasses appear to be pointing in slightly different angles, might just be the camera angle, but over time the magnetism can change. Heating and cooling, knocks and bumps. Which is why navigational compasses on ships have large compensator blocks and are able to be calibrated. Always worth checking your compass for accuracy every once in a while. Thank you for another entertaining and informative video.

Enjoyable as always. Thanks

Good advice Wayne, nice presentation, bash O' matic

Great video and explanation. Like a good, solid, reliable watch, I would not mind spending good money on a compass and a fair amount for a backup. Cheers.

Brilliant, as always.

Great video thanks, I love using a well made compass especially if it’s made fairly locally.

Id have binned the cheap Chinese tat after test number 1. Everything that followed was irrelevant. If it can't give you an accurate bearing, it's totally useless.

I bough a compass of a brand unknown to me a few years ago. Had forgotten my silva when going hiking in the mountains so I had to buy one in the sporting store on the way there and they only had the one type. That was the only trip I actually got caught in very thick fog as the night was closing in, and that compass freaked me out. It never settled properly, it kept moving so I trusted my knowledge of the mountain more. With 10 meters visibility we walked a few kilometers on my gut feeling combined with vague directions from the compass. Ended up exactly where I hoped but it was not a comfortable situation. Gave that compass back to the store on my way home.

It is not always cheap vs expensive, often it is cheaply manufactured and shoddy vs well constructed, which is not always a matter of price. Sometimes the extra you pay is for things that you would like but are not strictly necessary. If a compass points north and you can read the bearings, it is good to go. I have a cheap plastic faux military sighting compass with Japan clearly marked on the compass card and the sticky label "Wakefields" still on the back which should indicate how old that is since Wakefields have been gone many a long year, and a nice Silva Ranger sighting compass, and do you know what, they both point in the same direction. All I can say about the cheap one is that back in the day cheap was a lot better than cheap is now.

AFAIK, Recta was bought by Suunto. Even the good old Recta DP-Series now comes as Suunto MB. Hence, it makes me no wonder that they sell off their stock at half price. What makes me wonder is the Chinese scrap vs. the Suunto: Both are plastic with no metal, so I am really stunned by the craftsmanship that makes a magnetized needle go off that far :-). On the other hand. in the first experiment the Suunto did not point exactly to the line, despite you said so :-). By experience, I am very skeptic about using compasses indoors, especially near electronic devices. I once managed to take pictures of a "good" compass in vicinity to my Laptop, and it led me to nirwana, when the hard disk spun up or ran. And the fluxgate compass in my wonderful outdoor wristwatch ist a running gag, because in smaller restaurants it reliably points to the kitchen :-). But assuming, your video is uncut, it remains a miracle.

Once you said, the needle was pointing in the wrong direction, that was the end of it as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter from then on. Thanks for the information.

I finally understand why the semi-spherical compass on my uncle's boat, that he built in the UK, was on a weird dip/incline when he arrived in NZ.

Your videos area really great. I am just trying to calibrate the effects of rail cart on the bearings if its moving. Just wondering if this can be actually achieved.

You do great videos, but this one should have ended after the first test. A compass that doesn’t point north by 20 degrees is dead useless and could even make you dead. Sorry. Couldn’t help saying that. Keep up the good work. ………..Oooh. Just went back and watched to the end. Bash-o-matic test shows that the cheap compass was even worse than I thought! Amazing! Good work!

Lol just got back from Anaconda after buying a compass and this video comes up 1st on my feed. I bought a Silva Expedition MS compass for $89(AUD) made sure model was southern hemisphere calibrated(MS)before purchasing but yeah kind of top of the range model rubber feet so can sit still when using with/on a map declination adjustment screw on the lanyard luminous direction of travel mark tip of mag needle etc so yeah should be more than adequate for the field of work I am in training for(Mining Exploration)

That was great 👍 & chuckly 😅

please make video on brunton truarc 15 its unique complicated compass hard to wrap head around it Thank you

This proves the point.....you pay peanuts you get monkeys. Excellent video Wayne. I've watched almost all of your videos cheers mate😂

Is there a way to fix a compass? I have several Silva's and Suunto's and over time they get bubbles and are expensive to replace. I tried to fix my ranger, only to make it worse. I am thinking about a Cammenga because they are not liquid-filled but much harder to use. thanks and keep the great videos coming

What causes the different readings between the compasses? And if its that one compass is more magnetized, couldnt you "charge" the wrong one by running a magnet under it a couple times?

Will it point to North in any given country??

The Silva looked off to me. It wasn't off as badly as the cheapy compass, but it didn't look to be squared up with the line either.

I bought my Silva expedition in 1985 .......still going strong , unlike my legs

Do you want to go home or do you want to get lost? In snow. In rain.

Good bash test. I have a Suunto MC-2G, which importantly for me here in Jamaica has global balance. A lot of people don't realize many compasses are balanced for the N hemisphere. You try to use them in the tropics, you have problems. Definitely not going to try bashing it, though! :-)

This cheap is perfectly compensated declination for use it in middle of south America

Loved your video on this. There's a saying buy once cry once.

The one penny compass would be good for a teacher to purchase for the 30 students in the class 🤣

I have a Recta DT 420 G compass. The Suunto equivalent is the MT 3 G. The G stands for "Global". The can supposedly be used anywhere in the world. (Recta patented this and Suunto later bought Recta out). It has an additional benefit in that the design means that the needle does not jump around when you are walking and following a bearing. The patent has expired now so if you do decide you want one you are not restricted to Suunto and Recta. Whether those benefits are worth the extra cost is debateable They are a "nice to have" but most people seemed to survive before Recta patentted the design. On the other hand a compass that points where it is supposed to is infinitely more valuable than one which doesn't - whether or not it claims to be "global".

If your life might depend on it, do not go cheap. 'Nuff said.

Silva do perfectly usable starter compasses starting at £10 or so. So you can save a bit without going quite so extreme as a 1p offering and still save a little. Or you can be like me and build up a nice collection that people have dropped on the hill...

Clearly your one penny compass has not been magnetized properly. Edit: also the balance fulcrum and needle bearing could be lousy.

👍

Magnification on that dearest one probably adds to the cost a bit

I have bought 4 x Silva Expedition 4 over the last 6 months and all now have a bubble in them. Such poor quality now. Its insane! Ive now gone for a Suunto. I cant find a Recta for sale in the Uk unfortunately thanks for this

I have to try that markup stuff. Mine always looked more like ransom notes written by a kindergartner.

Silva or Sunnto for me every time - ! 😊

Hi. Is there a compass with a bigger dial please? Something a bit easier to read with poor eyesight.

how can they manufacture a compass that does not point north. Would you get the same problem with a loose magnet

some might find the silva compass expensive,that ones reasonably cheap compared to the one used by the mlitary .

Maybe the penny compass automatically corrects for declination 😂😂😂

Thanks! -- now we can add "rocking" a compass to the list of British neologisms . . . (BTW, a when it's not being a flawed meter, the American "yard" is often seen with swing sets, broken automobiles, riding mowers, and bicycle ramps)😂

One of the most accurate compassesmade is the Suunto KB-14 -expensive, no frills, but extreme accuracy - probably no longer made or sold.

it is the old saying: you buy what you pay for!

When you do some of you closeup on the cheap one, it looks to clearly have the reliability of a dime store toy. The pin going through the center looks like it is barely holding it together. This practice of selling something that looks good on the surface but is of inferior quality is also commonly seen in inexpensive twisty puzzles (like Rubik's Cube style puzzles) that come from factories in China. With those, however, there are actually some good products that also come from China, so a person has to become familiar with the brands.

Thanks,

Question. An expensive compass usually adjusts for declination. Do you want to adjust your compass for declination? Or do you leave it and do the math?

Craftsman, an American icon, now made in China. Suunto, made in Finland but owned by China. It’s the way of world I suppose.

The string is still useful and worth a penny. A Silva Ranger 3 is the best you can buy. Be honest and fair.

My first thought; magnetic compasses beside a computer and very close to a mouse !!.....

There is a joke in the US if you want to pull someone's leg. You say that the worst compass ever made was sold by the Tate's Compass Company. They were so bad people would claim " He who has a Tate's is lost". It's a great joke for any navigation class.

Suunto is finnish company.

18 pounds i thought that was gonna be the cheap compass

You can buy a cheap compass - let's say 5-10 times cheaper than the expensive one - which will work pretty well, but it just won't be the cheapest.

One more reason not to buy such compasses. Incredibly cheap items, sold well below the cost of manufacture, are often, if not always, used to obtain your name and postal address. This information is then used for other, slightly dishonest if not illegal, purposes, such as inflating reviews, personifying customers on the web and so on.

Everything is made in China. compass, electronics my Ex Gf. all made in china.. all nonsense! but thank you for this. $20 isnt a lot of money. for a good quality compass.

Ha ha, i heard your Voluxe compass as "bollocks" compass, which leads to the ambiguity: is it a load of bollocks or is it the dog's bollocks?

Makes my blood boil..

The needle on my Suunto mc 2-g compass sticks, $140 worthless pos.

Jee-Let’s hope that the Chinese Navy fitted these cheap and nasty compasses that they made on their own ships-With a bit of luck, as they all head of Taiwan they’ll get stuck on the rocks!

Don't get hung up on the cost of the compass. $20 is not much. Think about the value of your life.